The Brazen Bell
by Chibi Shaman
Summary: Okay, you see I just typed and uploaded tA young girl named Mikki befriends Ren and the rest. Manta and Anna get really sick so they go after jewels filled with potions. This is the tale of retrieving the Brazen Bell.


The evil Yami Chibi Hikari has enslaved the Random Kitsune Goddess.  
  
JUST KIDDING!   
  
This is way overdue so I wanted to put this up. So hope you like! Flames and reviews go to the Hikari! The Goddess is above Flames.   
  
ONCE AGAIN, JUST KIDDING!   
  
RKG: Okay, I'm getting serious now.   
  
YRKG: I very, very much doubt that.  
  
RKG: .:Pouts cutely:.   
  
YCH: Excuse me but…  
  
RKG: I don't own Shaman King, nor like it exactly. Thoush it has awesome onomatopoeias. Oh, YCH doesn't own Shaman King only Ren in bed with a rope.  
  
YCH: You're Fired!  
  
RKG: For the love of God, I am JUST KIDDING!  
  
The Brazen Bell  
  
Chapter One  
  
Sea Dragons the Size of the Nile  
  
"I'm surprised that you've made it this far…. Too bad you won't get to live long to bathe in your glory.  
  
"What…?"  
  
"No, WATCH OUT!" She hollers, waking up.  
  
"Hey, Mikki, what's the matter?" Ren, her best friend, questions. He sits beside her. She is shaking, and sweat drenches her face.  
  
"N-Nothing…" She brushes back her auburn hair. She turns to him, surprised. He scans her aquamarine eyes with his gold orbs. He cups her chin with his hands as a worried pain is briefly on his face, but he soon hides it."  
  
"You're lying. It's about the trip, isn't it? Your little fortune-telling thing is trying to tell you something. Tell me."  
  
"No." They were undergoing a rescue mission with their other friends. They had to find twenty rare jewels filled with potions to save Yoh's fiancée, Anna's, and Manta's lives. Jun Tao, Ren's older sister, had stayed behind to ensure their safety. They had already received nineteen of the jewels and had given them to Jun. They just needed the last one. But it would be much harder to receive than the other ones.   
  
Few, shamans with rare gift-like Mikki, only saw this jewel, the Brazen Bell. It was in an island that no map could trace, only visions can plot htem on the earth. Mikki found it with her friends right behind her. It was guarded with monsters that no one could imagine. And it is guarded by the king, a ruthless shaman who would torture his enemies until they begged for death, but he wouldn't give it to them until he grew sick and tired of them and gave their sould to his spirit, who would eat them. But the visions don't tell the shaman that-unless someone else was giving you the visions.  
  
Someone had been helping-or toying with- her by giving her visions of the enchanted island and its people, except for its king and inside its castle. But now the person had begun to stalk her with haunting visions of what could happen with her friends if she didn't find the jewel alone. She tried to avoid her friends, but she couldn't. They were like her family that she never had and vice versa. They never wish to part with her. No matter what happened, they always managed to stick like glue to her.   
  
Ren holds her hand; she turns her head.   
  
"Please, tell me. I don't wish to beg," he demands.  
  
"I don't want to. I just can't." He thrusts her hand upon his chest. She stares at him, bewildered and blushing. "W-What are you d-doing?"   
  
"Can you feel it?!" Can you feel how fast and hard my heart beats?! Can you tell how scared I was when you screamed?! Why the hell would I push you to tell me what's wrong if I didn't care?!"  
  
She blushes harder.  
  
"Answer me!"  
  
"I-I don't know…" Silence fills the air briefly, until she notices something. She touches his face. "Ren… You're crying."  
  
"I'm not."  
  
She smiles. "Oh,stop being so stubborn, you're crying. Admit it."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Nobody's here, so your pride won't get damaged."  
  
"There's no proof."   
  
She wipes his cheek gently and softly. On her forefinger is a droplet of salty water. "So your tear isn't proof?"  
  
He smiles and kisses the tear off her finger, sending shivers up her spine. "You caught me."  
  
"I deserve a reward then, don't I?"   
  
"Yes, you do. And here it is." He kisses her lips gingerly. Instead of resisting, she allows him to part her lips.  
  
"You know, if you really don't want them to find out then you should stop trying to make out with me." Ever since they had were friends, they had also been a couple. Ren didn't want anyone to know because he was afraid that their friends would think of him as a softie.   
  
"How could you sleep on the ground? It's made of the bones of the monsters who have died in vain." Ren states. Mikkie looks at the bones.   
  
"I don't know. I just fell unconscious, I guess." She stands up. "Where are the others?"   
  
"Over there." He points to a tree where their friends were under trying to stay cool. "How rude. Trying to keep cool while you're out here baking as you sleep."  
  
"No matter. Let's go."   
  
They walk to the tree where everyone was. They spot Mikki and instantly rush to her, asking if she is alright. She studies them. (E/N: Oh, boy. Descriptions.)  
  
She sees Lyserg first. The green-haired British boy was a true gentleman. They became friends when she was lost somewhere in England, and he had helped her in her time of need. He was wearing a white blouse and black pants with a green Sherlock Holmes-style poncho.   
  
Ryu comes into view next. His huge black, Elvis-styled pomadore was hard to miss. He wore a white weird style tux-just like the one the he wore when they first met in Tokyo when she became friends with Manta and Yoh.   
  
Then, Faust is seen beside Ryu. The blonde German wore a unbuttoned white shirt and weird looking pants that seemed to connect to his black boots. She remembers when he first met Mand and Yoh, that he scared Manta so bad that he is still scared of him. (E/N: Shorty Morty. Gomen.)   
  
She sees Chocolove (E/N: Which means love of chocolate. Just kidding.) and feels pity for him. The African had been killed once. But when he was resurrected, he sacrificed his eyesight to pay for the evil things he had done before he had met the gan. (E/N: How sweet!)   
  
Mikki laughs at Horo Horo. The spiky blue-haired boy is fighting with her spiky black-haired Chinese boyfriend--again.   
  
"How ya feeling, Mikki?" Yoh, a brown, chin-length haired boy, asks. They had been best friends for about 5 years now, but comparing it with her friendship with Ren of 10 years, it seemed short (E/N: Only half as long.)   
  
"Alright. I'm awake now, I guess,: she responds. She feels something wrap about her thighs. (E/N: A very naughty Ren? Ren: I'm gonna kill you. E/N: Eh, heh, heh.) She looks down. A little boy about 5, with black, messy hair is there. He looks at her with teary black eyes. He is wearing a tattered oversized shirt that almost (E/N: But not quite) hides his dirty ripped shorts. He is wearing no shoes to protect his feet. He was an orphan that they had found when they got on the island. They had watched his parents death. (E/N: So he wasn't quite an orphan when they found him.) His mother had known Mikki for about a day, but she had trusted her as if she was her own child. While she was dying, Mikki had sworn on her deathbed that she would protect him as if he were her brother.   
  
"A-Are you okay, Mikki?" He asks. She smiles warmly.   
  
"I'm fine, Caleb."   
  
"B-but you looked so l-l-lifeless. A-and you weren't m-moving, I thought you were going to d-d-DIE!" He begins to cry, sobbing heavily as he tries to explain that he didn't want to lose her. Mikki looks at the group. Some hearts were touched, others were crying.   
  
She gets on her knees. He embraces her harshly, almost knocking her down. She hugs him back, trying to sooth him.   
  
"Shhhhhh... Calm down, Caleb. It's gonna be alright. We're just going to get the jewel, then we're leaving. We'll never come back here again after this. It's gonna be just fine."   
  
He looks at her. She wipes away his tears. "There. See? Everything is going to be alright."   
  
"R-really?" he sniffs.   
  
"Really." He jumps on her back. She stands up, fixes how Caleb is sitting, then turns to the group. "C'mon guys, we can't keep Anna and Manta waiting. Let's go and reatrieve that jewel."  
  
"YEAH!" The boys cheer. They begin ther journey to the castle, where the Brazen Bell was.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Laughter fills the castle room.  
  
"She truly thinks that she can retrieve the bell?" A person begins. "It's going to be much harder than she thought."  
  
"Yes, it is," another continues. "She has quite the load ther. Isn't 8 boys alittle too much for such a trip?"   
  
"Especially since we told her to come alone," someone else concludes. He smirks. "No matter, for their deaths will be much sweeter."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
It is nightfall. They had walked 15 miles that day. The whole time Ryu had been complaining about the heat and his hair. Faust and Ren had tried to persuade Mikki to let someone else carry Caleb because she could faint of dehydration--again. But she would not stop. She said that he was her responsibility and that they had to continue-- even if she fell ill.   
  
"Can we stop now?" Ryu begs. Mikki continues to walk.   
  
"I don't think she heard your whining, you poodle," Chocolove says, jokingly. He was known for his bad jokes, but he told them anyway.  
  
"Actually," Yoh corrects, "she did. She just can't stop."   
  
"Why not?" Horo Horo asks.   
  
"Because," Ren begins, "she is determined."  
  
"For what?"   
  
"To save their lives... and then some."   
  
"Huh?"   
  
Faust interrupts, stopping Ren from killing Horo Horo. "She is being forced to see our deaths."  
  
"I don't understand, Faust," Lyserg questions. "Can you please explain?"   
  
"Certainly. You see, the person who has the jewel has the ability to send her thoughts, but it takes a lot out of her. She fears that if she sleeps, he'll come. But he sends her thoughts every hour, it seems. He told her to come alone, but we're too stubborn. Now, he's showing her that he is going to kill us. Torturing her seems to be his pleasure. Caleb knows whis and told me. Turns out he has the same power as our enemy--just not as evil and powerful."   
  
"Evil and powerful?"  
  
"When this person fives her too many painful thoughts, Caleb instantly tries to make her happier becaus he sends he dreams of positive things--like roses, puppies, beaches--you know happy childish things. He cares and loves her as much as Re--"  
  
"Mikki?" Caleb asks softly.  
  
"Yes, Caleb?" she responds.  
  
"Can we stop, please?"   
  
"Ca--"  
  
"You're tired. Everyone needs a rest. Or else they'll get sick. Please?"  
  
Mikki stops and smiles. "Fine."  
  
"Yea!"  
  
They rested on a beach of a large lake. She puts Caleb down and then sat with the others. "Don't go in the lake," she begins, checking the 50 pounds of arm and leg weights, "there are poisonous man-eating snakes the size of the Nile River in there."   
  
Caleb tries to take off Mikki's shoes. She struggles to keep them on. "Don't Caleb."  
  
"But everyone else does."   
  
"So?"  
  
"C'mon Mikki," Chocolove says. "He's beggin' ya."   
  
"NO." A pause fill sthe air, then the boys pounce on her, trying to take off her shoes. "No! No! Get off! L-Let go! S-stop. T-that tickles! K-Knock it off! L-let Go! PLEASE!"  
  
Her shoes fly off, one in the water, the other in Ryu's face. Lyserg gasps.  
  
"Mikki, your feet." He quietly points out," they're bleeding."  
  
Her socks were crimson red and were dripping blood. Ren traces his hand against one of her feet. She silently whines in pain, tears streaming down her face.   
  
"Mikki," Caleb whines, "you told me that you wouldn't hurt yourself."  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"Oh," Ren begins, wavering his hand around her feet. "Then this doesn't hurt?" He smacks her bloody appendages. She lets out a small scream, letting her tears fall freely. Horo Horo tries to hit Ren on the head, but Ren catches Horo Horo's snowboard.  
  
"That was SO uncalled for!" Horo Horo yells.  
  
"No. I had to. She needs the sense of pain racked through her body. She needs to know what we go through. In painful thoughts of her safety." He turns to Mikki. "You have to knock it off. I know you care about us, but killing yourself is not the way to go."  
  
She looks down. "I'm not killing myself."  
  
He grabs her and shakes her hard, with tears in his eyes. "Mikki, can't you hear yourself?! Look at me!" She continues to look at the ground. He grabs her face. "Mikki, I COMMAND you to look at me!"  
  
Horo Horo gets ready to stop Ren's actions but Faust stops him. Horo Horo looks at Faust in frustration and confusion.   
  
"Don't she need to listen and to feel his frustration and compassion," Faust whispers to everyone. Horo Horo turns to Caleb. He nods.  
  
"Compassion?" Horo Horo asks. "What's that?" Chocolove whacks him. He motions for him to be quiet. They watch Ren and Mikki.   
  
"Mikki for the last time, look at me!" Mikki looks at him, glassy eyed. He blushes surprised. "Mikki.... It's just--" he notices that he was breaking down. He clears his throat and gets back to what he was saying. "Look. You're wearing 200 pounds of weights, carrying a 90 pound boy, not eating, not drinking, and you haven't been sleeping. You only weighed 140 punds the last time we checked, which was 2 months ago. Not only that, but you're also a masochist. You're killing yourself." He cups her chin. "You need to stop. It's already bad enought that this king is trying to kill us."   
  
"But," Mikki begins. Faust cuts her off.  
  
"Mikki, you must stop this. Take off those weights and let me carry Caleb the rest of the way."  
  
Mikki looks around worried. "Guys, where's Yoh?"  
  
There is a splash in the water. Yoh is struggling to breathe in the water. Ren jumps into the water. Caleb dives in as well.   
  
"Guys! Stop!" Mikki yells. Everyone stops her. She looks at them wildly. "Guys! Let me go! I need to stop them. I need to save them!"  
  
"Don't Mikki," Lyserg says, "we cannot lose you as well."   
  
She looks at him wild-eyed. "But--"  
  
"No, they may die; we cannot save them. Nor can you."   
  
The water is silent for a while, then something comes out of it. Yoh was helping Ren walk out of the water. Mikki runs to them.   
  
"Are you two alright?"   
  
"Yeah," Yoh begins. "I was getting your shoe when that water dragon grabbed me. Ren killed the thing, but it injured him in the process."  
  
"Where's Caleb?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Caleb! He went in ther to save you two! Oh my god, no!" She dives in the water, fearing for Caleb's safety.  
  
Her eyes adjust quickly in the water as they sting. 'Poison,' she notices. She continues to search for Caleb, hurrying. She remembers that he is only but a mortal; he can not survive in poisonous waters. She spots Caleb's hand struggling above a green scaly part of the sea dragon's flesh. The dragon glares at her and whacks her away with his tail. In anger, she pulls out a dagger and slams it into the dragon's flesh. The dragon looks up at her furious; with a smirk on her face, she gives him the finger. (E/N: She rocks!) The dragon grabs her, ignoring Caleb for the moment. She watches Caleb's body fall to the bottom of the lake. She quickly grabs Caleb and throws him up to the surface. Before he reaches the surfac, she screams his name. He wakes up as he washes ashore. He tries to run back into the water, but Ren stops him.  
  
"Ren!" Caleb cries. "I hafta save her!"  
  
Ren shakes his head. "YOU are not to save; you almost died."  
  
"The-then, who will save her?" Caleb whimpered.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Mikki looks at the dragon. It looks at her and licks its' lips. The jaws spread to reveal two foot-long fangs. (E/N: Scary!) She curses then realizes she does not have anymore breath. She stabs the serpent again, thinking its grip will loosen, but instead, it tightens it's grip. One of its talons pierced her skin multiple times. She felt the poison of the talons enter her bloodstream. She curses at the pain that wracks her body and tries to swim up as fast as she can, but the serpent wouldn't let go. She couldn't breathe; she ran out of air. //Well,// she thinks, // at least Caleb, Ren, and the others are safe. I can die in peace now.// She closes her eyes as she thinks she feels the warm touch of a hand.  
  
She hears, "You're not dying on me, Mikki."   
  
TO BE CONTINUED...   
  
RKG: That was ridiculously long.   
  
YKG: Yes, but you did something nice.   
  
RKG: I'd do anything for my YCH.   
  
YKG: .:Rolls eyes:.  
  
RKG: Sigh. Nobody loves me.   
  
Oh and please review. Oh and check out Random Kitsune Goddess's stories.  
  
=^-^= 


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